United States declares health emergency over spread of coronavirus in the Middle East

NBC News reports that the U.S. government has declared the outbreak caused by the new Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) virus to be a public health emergency – not because it’s affecting the U.S. but to allow the quicker release of tests to keep an eye on it. The virus has killed at least 30 of the 54 people infected – giving it a more than 50 percent fatality rate, the World Health Organization says. What’s not clear is whether more people are infected but they’re just not sick enough to go to the hospital. That would lower the mortality rate. Read article